Back in August Nintendo announced that downloadable content would be coming to the 3DS in the next system update. By DLC they meant both the ability to download demos, but also to pay for additional content that would be added to a game you already own. However, Nintendo was also keen to point out such additional content would not be done on a small scale, suggesting healthy gameplay additions for games that choose to use it.

On December 8 Nintendo rolled out the update that allowed DLC to work, but it was accompanied by no games that supported the feature. Now we know the first game to offer paid-for DLC won’t arrive until April 19 in Japan. That game is Fire Emblem: Awakening being developed by Intelligent Systems.

No details of how much the DLC will cost or what it will include have been released yet. However, it does at least signal the beginning of such additional content on the 3DS and should quickly be followed by other games.

There’s been no release date announced for Fire Emblem: Awakening in the west, but it should offer the same DLC. Such content can be purchased with a credit card directly on your 3DS, or through the use of a pre-paid card.

If we don’t get the DLC in the west then we may instead have games that include it ship with the additional content already on the card. Although, I’d be surprised if Nintendo didn’t want to encourage such extra spending in markets used to paying for digital content already through their smartphones.